Eyeshield



Jan. 6. 1948. P. KILHAM zYzsHxnLn FiledApril'fS, 1945 Patented Jan. 6, 1948 EYESHIELD Peter Kilham, Attleboro. Mass., assignor to Polaroid Corporation, Cambridge,l Mass., a corporation of Delaware Application April s, 1945, serial No. 587,303

This invention pertains to eye shields useful for protecting the eyes of the wearer from glaring light, heat, or solid particles, and relates more especially to an eye shield designed for ready attachment to a hat or cap.

Shields of this general type are used by participants in winter sports to protect the eyes from the intense reiiection of the sun from the snow; by drivers of motor vehicles to shield their eyes from the glare of headlights and from road reections; and by industrial workers to protect the eyes from the light and heat of welding torches or the like, or from solid particles projected from grinding wheels, etc.

Customarily, such shields are secured in place by straps or bands (elastic or not) encircling the wearers head. This mode of securing the shield in place is not entirely satisfactory since it constricts the wearers head; it may necessitate loosening and readjusting the band each time the shield is doifed and donned; it is not well adapted for use when a hat is being worn; and is not always reliable in respect to holding the shield in proper position.

One object of the present invention is to provide an eye shield so devised that it may readily be attached to or detached` from a conventional visored cap or hat, the cap or hat thus constituting the support for the shield and permitting the wearer to don and doft' the shield with the greatest ease, and without subjecting the head to undue constriction.

The wearer of such a shield may, from time to time, desire temporarily to remove the shield from his field of vision without necessitating doiiing the shield entirely. A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved shield having provision for moving it into and out of the ileld f vision while it is still attached to the wearers head, and which will remain securely in either position to which it may be adjusted. Other and further objects and advantages'of the invention will be pointed out in thefollowing more Fig. 4 is a plan view of a shield shown in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section, to larger scale,

.illustrating one of the hinge connections between the shield proper and its attaching clip.

Referring tothe drawings, the numeral I desig.. nates a transparent shield panel of appropriate material, for instance glass, or preferably a material which is less easily fractured, for example, Celluloid or one of the synthetic resins. Preferably, as here illustrated, this shield panel is of suiiicientlen'gth to extend across both eyes of the wearer, being here illustrated as of generally rectangular, horizontal elongate outline having a substantially straight upper edge 2, and the vertical rear edges 3 and I, and having an upwardly directed recess 5 in its lower edge 8, the recess 5 being designed to receive the wearers nose. Preferably, as illustrated in Fig. 4, this shield panel I is bent so that in plan or horizontal section it is of substantially semi-elliptical contour, with its major axis extending from right to left. The forward portions 1 and 8 of this panel, at opposite sides respectively of the nose-receiving recess 5, are disposed directly in front of the wearers eyes when the panel is in the broken-line position of Fig. 1.

In order to strengthen this panel, which will usually be of thin material, for example, 0.1 inch thick, and to maintain its desired curvature, metal brace bars 9 and I0 are secured by rivets or screws II to the panel near its upper edge 2, one at each side respectively of its center. Instead of two separate brace bars, a single reinforcing strip may extend substantially from one edge 3 to the other edge 4 of the shield, and this bracing strip may be of any desired transverse section in order to impart the desired stiffness and rigidity, but without unduly increasing the weight of the shield.

For attaching the shield panel I to the wearers hat or cap, there is provided a clip, here shown as comprising a unitary plate I2, preferably of resilient sheet metal, so shaped as to provide the downwardly directed central finger I3v whose lower portion is bent to form a hook I4 (Fig. 3) designed to be engaged beneath the edge 5 of the panel I at the upper part of the nose-receiving recess 5. The hook I4 is so shaped that when snapped over the edge of the panel I, it will retain the shield panel in the inoperative full-line position of Fig. 1.

'I'he plate I2 is hinged to the shield panel I by a pair of hinge devices, one of which is shown more in detail in Fig. 5. Thus each hinge device nascere s comprises a U-shaped bracket member Il secured, at its closed end, by means of a screw or rivet I6to the plate I2 at the inner side of the latter. each of the brackets I comprising substantially parallel resilient arms I1 having aligned openings I8 near their free ends. Interposed between the arms I1 and seating in the opposed openings I8 is a ball I9 fixed to a shank member 20 having a collar portion 2I which bears against the outer surface of the panel I and which is headed over at 22 at the rear side of the panel so as securely to anchor the part 20 to the shield panel. 'I'he ball I9 is resiliently gripped by the arms I1 and defines an axis about which the bracket I5 and panel may relatively turn, the resilient pressure of the fingers on the ball resulting in a frictional resistance to turning which eii'ectively prevents rattling and vibration and which automatically takes up wear.

The plate I2 is provided with resilientflngers 23 at opposite sides of and spaced from the central finger I3, these resilient fingers being bent to provide upwardly extending spring clip members 24 designed to grip the visor of the hat or cap between them and the main body of the plate I2. Preferably the plate I2 is also provided with an upwardly directed central finger 25 terminating in a detent or hook element 26.

1n Fig. 1 the improved smem 1s iuustrated as' secured to the visor V of a cap C, the visor being of stiff material such as is customarily employed in the visors of caps of this general type. In applying the improved eye shield to the cap visor, the edge of the visor is inserted between the spring clip ngers 24 and the main body of the plate I2, the resiliency of the fingers 24 reliably retaining the shield device in cooperative relation with the cap visor. When the shield panel is to be used to protect the eyes of the wearer, it is swung downwardly about the axis defined by the balls I9, to the broken line position illustrated in Fig. 1. In this position the detent or retainer element 26 engages over the upper edge of the panel I and resists upward swing oi' the shield panel so that It can not readily be displaced, for example by a blast of air acting against its rear surface. On the other hand, when the eye shield is to be held out of the iield of vision it is swung upwardly about the axis dened by the balls I9 until the spring element I4 engages the upper edge 5* of the recess 5 in the shield panel, the shield panel thus being held reliably in the position shown in full'lines in Fig. 1 until it is desired to restore it to its operative position. When it is desired to use it again the operator may swing it vdownwardly by the application of sufficient force, or if desired he may rst, by means of his finger, release the spring retaining member I4 from the panel, before attempting to turn the panel downwardly.

While the hinge construction herein described is very desirable, it is to be understood that other and equivalent hinge connections may be substituted therefor, and that in all other particulars as well, the invention is broadly inclusive of any and all modifications falling within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An eye shield comprising a transparent panel. a plate having integral portions constituting spring clips for detachably securing the plate to the Visor of a cap. a pair of spaced brackets attached to the rear side of the plate, each bracket comprising a pair of parallel spaced resilient arms having aligned openings, a stud having a ball-head seating in the opposed openings and which is resiliently gripped between the arms of each bracket respectively, means xing the studs to the panel near the upper edge of the latter, the brackets cooperating with the ball-head studs to define a pivotal axis about which the plate and panel may be swung, the plate also having integral resilient ngers depending from each end thereof, thev finger at one end being adapted to engage the upper edge-,of said panel to hold it in operative position and the other linger adapted to engage the lower edge of said panel to hold it Y in inoperative position.

2. An eye shield comprising a thin, transparent, horizontally elongate panel, which in horizontal section is of substantially semielliptical curvature, reinforce means adjacent to the upper edge of the panel for maintaining its desired shape, the panelhaving a central recess in its lower edge for the reception of the Wearers nose, a supporting member hinged to the upper portion of the panel. spring clips carried by the supporting' member for detachably securing it to the visor of a cap or hat, integral resilient fingers depending from each end of said supporting member, the linger at one end being adapted to engage the upper edge of said panel to hold it in operative position and the other finger adapted to engage the lower edge of said panel at the central recess therein to hold it in inoperative position.'

3. An eye shield adapted to be detachably mounted on the Visor of a cap, comprising a normally horizontal plate having integral portions constituting spring clips for detachably securing the plate to the visor of a cap, hinge means attached to one side of said plate, a transparentA panel hingedly mounted on said plate by said hinge means, and an integral resilient finger depending from each end of said plate, one finger being adapted to engage the upper edge of said panel to hold it in eye-protecting position and the other` finger adapted to engage the lower edge of said panel to hold it out of eye-protecting position.

PETER KILHAM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

y UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name vDate 918,975 Dice Apr. 20, 1909 1,228,341 Maynard May 29, 1917 1,298,636 Altman Apr. 1, 1919 1,671,342 Cantor May 29, 1928 1,693,505 Fisher ai--- Nov. 27, 1928 1,871,461 More Aug. 16, 1932 1,879,216 Hannan et al. Sept. 27, 1932 1,955,232 Gallaway Apr. 17, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 200,635 Great Britain July 19, 1923 

